GT3 Cup: VICI Racing Laguna Seca summary

18.10.2005 The inaugural IMSA GT3 Cup season ended on an excellent note for
XM SATELLITE VICI RACING on Sunday as Nathan Swartzbaugh climbed onto the
podium and in the process moved up the points table to clinch third place
in the ...

18.10.2005 The inaugural IMSA GT3 Cup season ended on an excellent note for
XM SATELLITE VICI RACING on Sunday as Nathan Swartzbaugh climbed onto the
podium and in the process moved up the points table to clinch third place
in the championship

The final race of the inaugural five-round IMSA GT3 Challenge Cup presented
by Michelin took place at the demanding Laguna Seca circuit last Sunday
(16th October). For XM SATELLITE RADIO VICI RACING and their promising
young driver Nathan Swartzbaugh, it turned into the perfect swansong. In
his first year in the higher echelons of sportcar racing, the 20-year-old
Californian driver has had - by his own admission - somewhat of a
rollercoaster year. And so, after a heavy practice crash during the last
round which sent the team home early, everyone was looking forward to
rounding this season off in some style in what turned out to be a yellow-
flag littered race.

Grabbing the final podium position (3rd place) was a superb result for both
driver and team, and it could so easily have been even better as Nathan had
held onto second position for much of the 45 minute race, only loosing out
on the runner-up spot during the final lap, when the drama-packed race was
in fact being re-started for the third time in its 23 lap length. Nathan
took the chequered flag 2.418 seconds behind the winner, Kevin Roush (Wheel
Enhancement Racing), and 1.508 adrift second placed Phil De Angelis (Kelly-
Moss Racing). The XM SATELLITE VICI RACING driver also posted the second
fastest lap time of the race (1:32.463, on lap 12), just 0.199 seconds of
Roush's quickest race lap.

Taking the flag in third place gave Nathan 16 points to add to the tally of
24 points he had chalked up prior to arriving at Laguna Seca. This allowed
him to round out his rookie IMSA GT3 Cup season with 40 points, and 3rd
place in the championship. While Jay Policastro (who finished in 13th
place) comfortably claimed the inaugural IMSA GT3 Challenge Cup title,
Nathan and Kevin Roush finished next up, jointly tied on 40 points each,
although the latter was given the positional nod in deference to his two,
back-to-back race wins.

"I'm ecstatic, simply over the moon," said a delighted Nathan, who enjoyed
spraying the champagne on the IMSA GT3 Challenge Cup podium for the first
time this year. "I was really down after Road America [the last round], and
felt I had let the team down. This result though is really great; my career
has really come on such a long way in the last year. I'm really delighted
to give VICI RACING a podium finish and I want to thank all the guys, Ron,
Alfred, Freddie, Robert, Bill, and everyone else for all their awesome
support this year. I really hope I can be back with them all next year."

Nathan had actually started the weekend's proceedings at Laguna Seca off on
Thursday morning with a best lap of 1:33.074 out of his 11 laps on track
during the first of two 30-minute free practice sessions that day, to claim
7th fastest time overall (out of the 29 cars that turned up for this final
race), 1.651 seconds of the pacesetter, Kevin Roush. The afternoon's second
track session saw Nathan steadily improving as he got to grips with the
unfamiliar and demanding 2.238-mile race track, the Californian youngster
posting a best lap of 1:32.799 during his 10 laps, to take fourth fastest
position, and reduce the deficit to Roush - who once again went quickest -
to 0.965 seconds.

Saturday's final qualifying session saw the Florida-based team adjusting
settings slightly after an overnight analysis of data, and Nathan went on
to claim the outside slot on row two, after turning in the 4th fastest lap
time, a 1:31.738, out of 8 laps he spent on the track. Kevin Roush again
went quickest of the Porsche runners - but the gap was narrowing all the
time, and Nathan was just .0282 seconds off the pole winner's time.

XM SATELLITE RADIO VICI RACING Commercial Manager Bill Colleran is very
pleased with the outcome of the Laguna Seca race and the first-ever IMSA
GT3 Challenge Cup season in general. "The new championship has grown very
quickly in both strength and stature," comments Bill, "and its seems set
for a bright future, especially as the races will support the ALMS series
again in 2006, and include Sebring and the Petit Le Mans on the schedule.

"Highlights for us must surely be Alfred's round one win, and the way
Nathan has developed his obvious talent and skills over the course of the
year. 2005 has also seen a very successful first year of our new
partnership with XM SATELLITE RADIO, and we look forward to this bond
growing in strength over the coming years. We certainly hope to continue
our participation in the IMSA GT3 Challenge Cup next year."

XM SATELLITE RADIO VICI RACING will announce their plans for the 2006 IMSA
GT3 Challenge Cup in due course.